The 2014 “coup” in Kyiv was the last straw and set Putin on a course to do everything in his power to create turmoil, division, and chaos in the West, weakening governments and multilateral institutions such as NATO and the EU. The more problems he could create in the West, the more the governments would be forced to turn inward and be less inclined to counter Russia’s authoritarianism at home and its militant posture on the periphery.
